Viviane Robinson on school leadership

HomeSchool resourcesStrategic leadershipViviane Robinson on school leadership

Viviane Robinson on school leadership

HomeSchool resourcesStrategic leadershipViviane Robinson on school leadership

Distinguished Professor Viviane Robinson, an expert in school leadership and school improvement, discussed her recent book Reduce Change to Increase Improvement ( Corwin, 2018). The book helps leaders to interrupt a relentless focus on change and move to a more productive focus on gaining and sustaining improvement. She contrasted two different approaches to leading improvement and provided practical strategies and examples that illustrate and explain why one approach is more effective than the other. 

Viviane is a world expert in school leadership and has held positions as Academic Director of the University of Auckland’s Centre for Educational Leadership and as a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education University College, London. She was the lead author of the Best Evidence Synthesis, School leadership and student outcomes: Identifying what works and why. She has consulted on leadership policy and development to professional and government bodies in England, Norway, Singapore, Chile, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. She has received awards from national and international professional and academic organisations, including the Australian Council for Educational Leaders, and the New Zealand Secondary Principals Association. Viviane now designs and delivers professional learning and consults to school leadership teams.

Viviane’s ppt is available using the download pdf button

To help you navigate the webinar easily, there is a list of the key topics covered in the session below, including the time each was discussed. The key ideas discussed in this webinar are also shared in a short insight article.

Topics discussed in this webinar

Times shown in minutes and seconds from the start of the video

2.30Why write a book on reducing change to increase improvement? 
6.07The relationship between leadership and student outcomes 
10.55The distinction between change and improvement 
13.20Uncovering teachers’ theories of action 
17.30What does it mean to bypass a teacher’s theory of action? 
19.05The alternative to bypassing a teacher’s theory of action – engaging a teacher’s theory of action 
24.00Phase one of theory engagement: Agree on the problem to be solved 
26.20Phase two of theory engagement: Reveal the relevant theory or theories in action
31.00Phase three of theory engagement: Evaluate the relative merit of the current and alternative theories in action
34.50Phase four of theory engagement: Implement and monitor a new sufficiently-shared theory 
39.55How long should it take to see improvement? 
42.45Does this approach work equally well with individual teachers and the whole school? 

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